


My Love Story

by PeriPeriwinkle



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Molestation warning, Mutual Pining, Ore Monogatari AU, Unrequited Crush, highschool crushes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2016-12-16
Packaged: 2018-09-08 23:44:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8867932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeriPeriwinkle/pseuds/PeriPeriwinkle
Summary: Bull: big, brutish, loud. Krem: lean, charming, aloof.After stopping a molester on the train to school, Bull falls hard for the boy he's saved.But between him and Krem, he doesn't stand a chance. As usual.(or so he thinks)





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pamurai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pamurai/gifts).



> This is a treat! pamurai asked for an Ore Monogatari AU, and ho boy, how could I resist writing about one of my favorite mangas??? 
> 
> Merry christmas!!! ❤ ❤ ❤

Bull’s not the most attractive of guys, and he knows it. Big, bulky and chubby, about a head taller than anyone else his age - and even people older than him too. He just doesn’t look sixteen _at all_. And then there’s Krem: lean but fit, strong jaw and smooth voice, silky brown hair and not too short nor too tall; everyone loves him. He’s the opposite of Bull, physically speaking, and a lot more rational and chill where Bull’s brazen and prone to acting on instinct - which rarely ever fails him, if he’s honest, but it just doesn’t scream “attractive”.

Most of the time, however, the fact that he’s bigger isn’t at all a bad thing.

He’s looking over the heads of the people on the train to school, riding along with Krem as he does every day, a point of advantage to do some people watching, when he sees it.

A boy, probably about his age, standing close to the doors of the train, stiff as a statue. He doesn’t understand why at first, but then he notices it: behind him there’s an older man glued to his back due to how full the wagon is, but he’s fumbling with his belt, eyes shifting from side to side to make sure no one’s seeing him do it.

When he feels he’s safe from prying eyes, the creep focuses onto the boy’s nape and _exhales_ as his hand seems to finally have found its target. Before him, the boy tenses even further, back ramrod straight like a bowstring ready to snap.

Bull has seen enough.

“Bull--” Krem starts as he pushes his way through the throng of people, getting a few indignant yelps, but he pays them no mind, eyes locked onto his target.

He grabs the creep by the arm, yanking it off his pants as he looks up, face going white as a paper as Bull gives him his most menacing look.

“You get off at the next stop,” Bull growls, the man’s eyes widening, and the boy turns around, mouth agape.

Bull freezes for a second.

The kid is _gorgeous_. Angular nose, delicate jaw, combed black hair and light grey eyes perfectly lined with kohl. His cheeks are flushed with embarrassment, brows drawn up, and he bites his bottom lip when he looks up at Bull.

“ _Thank_ _you_ ,” he whispers in a shaky exhale, voice tight but still whimsical, accent thick and eyes shining with moisture.

Bull’s heart thuds painfully in his chest. _Aw, shit_ , he thinks, and squeezes the man’s arm tighter.

 

\---

 

“What should I do with this creep?” Bull asks Krem at the station the four of them got off on, his arm now wrapped around the man’s throat as he struggles to get away from his grip. Krem crosses his arms and the boy’s fists wrap tightly around the strap of his shoulder bag. “Should I take him to the station guard?”

“Yeah, let’s,” Krem says, nodding, then turns back to the boy. “We can handle it from here, if you want.”

“I _could_ have defended myself, you know,” he says in response, throwing his shoulders back and lifting his chin, just the tiniest bit. Like a practiced motion, even though he's still shaking, just slightly. “But still, I highly appreciate what you’re doing. Most people would not have stepped in, preferring to look the other way and not bother throwing a scene. But you didn’t hesitate. Again, thank you, but I’m coming with you both to report this man.”

Bull’s heart flutters in his chest, his arm drawing tighter around the creep’s throat and making him gasp loudly. He and Krem nod and they make their way to the guard.

“A molester, huh?” The guard says, eyeing the man in question. Bull lets him go, and although he looks around, seemingly wondering if he could make a break for it, he takes a deep breath and keeps his ground, trying to look outraged and managing to look deliriously frightened instead.

“They’re _lying_! I didn’t do anything!”

“Oh, so the _wet dick_ that was poking my behind just two minutes ago was fruit of my colorful imagination, then?” The boy retorts, his voice cracking but firm. “Wishful thinking, maybe?”

The guard glares harder at the creep, obviously taking the boy’s side. The handcuffs strapped to his belt clink as he shifts his body weight to his right leg. The creep opens and closes his mouth like a fish as he tries to retort the boy’s claim.

“M-Most likely! A _slut_ like you, with all that makeup on, looking like you do, you were practically _begging_ me to touch y--”

**_Wham._ **

Bull’s fist flies before he can stop himself. The man drops down cold on the floor before anyone can say anything.

The guard’s glare shifts directions. Krem facepalms. The boy just stares, rendered speechless.

Bull goes, “Uh oh.”

\---

 

Reported to his school, then suspended for a week; not too bad, all things considered. Crushing that creep’s nose in felt incredibly satisfying, and he was arrested in the end, the boy following the guard to give his statement.

Bull grins as Krem comes into his room to give him the things he missed in class, teasing him for punching the guy like that.

“Well, he pissed me off!” Bull says, and Krem laughs.

“In front of the guard, though! You’re such an idiot.”

They both chat around for a bit about each other's day when Bull's mom, Tama, peeks inside his room.

“Bull dear, there’s a boy here to see you. His name’s Dorian.”

Krem and Bull look at each other.

“You know him?” Krem asks, and Bull shrugs.

“Name doesn’t ring a bell, but it must be someone from school, I guess.”

Bull organizes his room, hides his dirty socks under the covers in his bed, and turns when he hears a knock on his door.

Standing there, holding a box of sweets from a famous bakery right around the corner of his house, is the boy from the train.

Dorian.

Bull’s heart beats hard again, and he hopes his dark complexion doesn’t show the way his cheeks flush.

Although by the way Krem’s grinning, he feels like his bewildered expression is giving him away.

 _Dorian_.

“Hello. Um. I hope it’s okay to show up like this. The guard told me which school you were from, and I asked your colleagues where you lived because I wanted to bring something. To thank you again for this morning.”

“ _Ofcourseitsokaypleasecomeinyoucansithereifyoulike!_ ” Bull blurts out, voice slightly shrilly, and Krem shakes his head.

“Welp, guess I’ll get going then,” he says, getting up, and Dorian tenses.

“Wait, you’re leaving? N-no, you shouldn’t! I brought enough cheesecake for everybody!”

Oh.

So he likes Krem, then. Not him.

_Of course._

Bull’s been through this before. He and Krem are like brothers, the best of friends since they were young, even before he transitioned and changed his birth name. And he’s always been the popular guy, the approachable one that all the girls and boys fell head over feet for - even the ones that Bull had crushes on. He’s never shown interest in any of them, although Bull always supported wholeheartedly the idea of him dating any of them - as long as Krem is happy, Bull is happy too, because that’s what friends are for, right?

So although his heart does a flip every time he looks at Dorian, he knows it’s just a crush, just another one amongst the many he’s had in the past. He has a soft heart and falls easily for people, ever since he was young. So he’s used to it; he’ll get over it, eventually.

The three of them sit down to eat the cheesecake Dorian’s brought, and they chat. Dorian apparently studies in an all-boys school near Bull and Krem’s school; he’s in the same grade as they are and has lived in the city all his life. A nice person, handsome, and apparently pretty smart too.

When Krem gets up to leave again Dorian is quick to follow, thanking Bull profusely as they both walk out the door. Of course; he probably wants to have a moment alone with Krem, get to know him better. It makes him sigh, but at the same time, he’s hopeful. Dorian seems like a good guy.

Bull nods, decided.

He’s going to help Krem and Dorian get together.

They both deserve to be happy.

 

\---

 

“So... Krem, was it?”

“Yeah? What’s on your mind, dude?”

Dorian walks with his eyes down, and Krem shoves his hands inside his pockets, waiting. After about a minute he looks back up and bites his bottom lip.

“Are you and Bull... boyfriends?”

Krem nearly stops dead on his tracks, but instead he just starts cackling, a loud laugh from deep in his belly that shakes his whole body. Dorian, next to him, flushes and glares, not very amused.

“Ah, no, sorry, 'm sorry. It's just. No, not at all. I mean, Bull and I are like _brothers_ , that's why it was so funny to me that you thought we were boyfriends. I love him very much, but we're not dating or anything. We're just very good friends.”

“Oh,” Dorian mutters, then looks back up ahead like nothing has happened, except his eyes are unfocused and his cheeks are still looking fairly red against his darker skin tone. Krem tilts his head, curious.

“Why y’ask? You‘re into him?”

“What? _No!_ ” Dorian exclaims, his face twisting into a fake grimace, and Krem grins. “Okay, _yes_. I am. He... he seems like a cool guy.”

“He is.” Krem closes his hand into a fist, then gently bumps it into Dorian, pushing his shoulder with his knuckles and making him snort quietly. “And I don’t know if you noticed but he’s pretty into you too. So go for it.”

“What, no way!” Dorian exclaims, shoulders rising and back stiffening. “He can’t possibly _like_ me. I may be handsome and all, but... there’s no way he _likes_ me.”

Krem ignores the way Dorian emphasizes the word “like”, as if it is something absolutely impossible, and shakes his head. “You should get your eyes checked. Bull fucking _glows_ whenever you open your mouth. Or breathes.”

Dorian keeps walking in silence for a few seconds, frowning.

“ _Really_?”

“Absolutely. Here, this is what we’ll do: I’ll give you my number, and I’ll arrange for you both to meet up again sometime this week, ok?”

Dorian’s face lights up, and he sighs out softly, almost as if relieved. “I mean, I don’t want to impose on you, but--”

Dorian stops in his tracks, hand fumbling in his pocket, looking confused. Krem stops a few steps ahead as confusion turns into desperation, Dorian's now trembling fingers rummaging around every pocket and bag he has on him.

"What?”

“My-my _phone!_ ” Dorian shrieks. “It’s gone!”

“Calm down, calm down. Maybe you left it at Bull’s. What’s your number?”

 

\---

 

Muffled classical music begins to play, along with a vibrating sound, and Bull frowns.

He looks around, confused, and soon he spots a black yet unfamiliar mobile phone, enveloped in a fancy case with a couple of phone straps hanging onto the top; one is a tiny little skull and the other a red light that flashes with the ringtone, engulfed by a transparent plastic that imitates fire.

Bull picks it up.

“Hullo?”

“Oh, thank the Maker!” Comes the voice on the other side; _Dorian’s_ voice. “I forgot my phone there! I’m so sorry! Can we meet up tomorrow so I can get it back? Maybe after class?”

“Uh. Sure,” Bull says automatically, his voice pretty neutral as he freaks out a little on the inside. “Should I meet you at your school or...?”

“No, no! I’ll meet you and Krem at the front gate of your school at around noon, how does that sound?”

 _Right_. Bull’s so _stupid_. Of _course_ he wants to see Krem again tomorrow. He shakes his head and resists the urge to sigh. “Sure, that sounds perfect. I’ll keep your phone safe until then. See you tomorrow.”

“See you! And, well, thank you again. You seem to be always saving my skin.”

“Don’t mention it,” Bull chuckles, then hangs up.

He feels... _bittersweet_ is the right word for it. When he heard Dorian’s voice he was thrilled, but then reality reminded him that he doesn’t stand a chance. He never did. A big, brutish boy like him? Between him and Krem, he’ll _never_ stand a chance.

He nods once to himself and starts getting ready to bed, his mind working out a plan of action. He thought he’d have more time to plot, but maybe it’s better this way, so he doesn’t overthink it too much. Doesn’t get too upset about it.

Tomorrow he’s got an important matchmaking job to do.


End file.
